Chineham, 21st September 2024
Members of Greener Basingstoke were pleased to be welcomed to the Repair Café alongside Sarah from Sustainable Overton showing her display about Sustainable Fashion. Suitably dressed in a variety of clothes promoting local charity shops, Vinted, Community Wardrobe, vegan cosmetics, clothes swaps and the circular economy, it was fun to share information and experiences with people waiting to have items repaired.
To some extent it was ‘preaching to the converted’ with visitors from a generation of people brought up to ‘make do and mend’ and ‘a stitch in time’. However, several people were interested in the factual information on show and many were eager to talk about their attempts to educate younger people in their family. There were conversations about the age of some of the clothes being worn*. Some people were embarrassed about the quantity of clothes they possess but never wear. It was a light-hearted event and encouraging to hear how aware many people are of the problem of clothes going into landfill.
The Repair Café itself was incredibly busy (and not just with clothes’ repairs) but the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and obviously a vital service for people like us who believe in reducing/reusing/repairing.
*28 years according to one visitor. Can anyone beat that?!!
